\u201cNo one prepares you for what it\u2019s like to be separated,\u201d she says. As seen in episode five, the Prince and Princess of Wales had formally separated in 1992, after intense speculation about their relationship in the tabloids, and an official trip to South Korea together in November, during which they looked so miserable that the British press calls them \u201cthe Glums\u201d.<\/p>\n
- Read more | The Crown S5 E1 real history: \u2018Queen Victoria Syndrome\u2019 and a second honeymoon<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
\u201cThe Royal Highnesses have no plans to divorce,\u201d a statement from Buckingham Palace<\/a> had confirmed in December of that year, \u201cand their constitutional positions are unaffected.\u201d Charles and Diana would continue to jointly raise their sons, Princes William and Harry, but from that moment the couple would live separate lives, with Prince Charles in St James\u2019 Palace and Diana residing in an apartment at Kensington Palace.<\/p>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, with Princes William and Harry, during William\u2019s enrolment at Eton College. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n The separation left Diana, as the drama has it, in no man\u2019s land. Or rather, \u201cno woman\u2019s land\u2026 neither married nor single, neither royal nor normal.\u201d In reality, the princess later described the separation as a moment when she felt she had \u201crun out of steam\u201d.<\/p>\n
The 1992 announcement was also a blow to an institution already facing a brace of criticism and an ebb in popularity. As the New York Times <\/em>had it<\/a>, \u201cThe news of the separation comes at a time when the credibility of the monarchy is at a modern low-point, as a result of persistent reports alluding to the marital scandals and wealthy lifestyle of some members of the royal family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Episode seven explores Diana\u2019s feelings during this period of her life, her relationship with surgeon Hasnat Khan, and the targeting of Diana by a BBC journalist, Martin Bashir.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
How did Martin Bashir approach Princess Diana?<\/h2>\n
Martin Bashir was born in London in 1963 to Pakistani parents who had emigrated to Britain, and attended King Alfred\u2019s College and King\u2019s College London where he gained a Master\u2019s degree in Theology. He joined the BBC in 1986, where he worked on a number of projects, including the flagship current affairs documentary programme Panorama.<\/em><\/p>\n
It was in August 1995 that Bashir, then a 32-year-old reporter, met Diana\u2019s brother, Earl Spencer, at the family\u2019s Althorp estate in Northamptonshire. In this episode, Bashir paints a picture of a family under siege, telling Spencer, \u201cI thought if they\u2019re bugging you, what if your sister may also have been the victim of the security services\u2019 dirty tricks campaign?\u201d As shown in the drama, Earl Spencer did introduce Bashir to Diana<\/a> the following month.<\/p>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Broadcast journalist Martin Bashir worked on a number of projects, including the flagship current affairs documentary programme Panorama. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n In reality, the notes that Earl Spencer made during the early meetings with Bashir are \u201castonishing\u201d, said the BBC\u2019s royal correspondent Jonny Dymond in November 2020. They appeared to record Bashir \u201cspinning lie after lie about members of the Royal Family<\/a>, and its staff, in an attempt, Earl Spencer says, to win his trust and that of his sister.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bashir really did provide both the Earl and Princess Diana with forged statements, which wrongly purported that two senior courtiers were being paid by the security services for information. The drama chooses to depict how Bashir\u2019s \u201cproof\u201d was deployed at a time when the princess felt increasingly isolated, believing that her phones were being tapped and that members of her staff were spying on her. Statements about journalistic integrity during which Bashir leans on the \u201ctrustworthy and important\u201d reputation of the BBC are positioned squarely alongside shots of Bashir\u2019s deception.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diana and Dr Hasnat Khan<\/h2>\n
When visiting the husband of her friend and therapist Oonagh\u00a0Toffolo at the Royal Brompton Hospital in August 1995, Diana met surgeon Dr Hasnat Khan. In the drama, Debicki\u2019s Diana admires Khan (played by Humayun Saeed) as \u201cquite dishy\u201d, and later tells him how \u201cI already had a prince. He broke my heart. I\u2019m just looking for a frog to make me happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diana did become involved with the heart and lung surgeon following their meeting in August \u201995 and they remained in a relationship until 1997. Diana visited his family in Lahore in 1996.<\/p>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Dr Hasnat Khan, who was in a relationship with Princess Diana between 1995-7. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n The drama depicts, during this period, Diana being relatively free to drive herself about London, independent of any minders. At another moment, she meets Khan whilst in disguise at a cinema. Does this seem likely? Historian Sarah Gristwood explains: \u201cI don\u2019t personally find that completely unlikely.\u201d Referring to a 1986 prank when Diana and Sarah Ferguson dressed up to crash Prince Andrew\u2019s stag party, \u201cif you think of an occasion that she and Fergie crashed a nightclub, that shows that a certain amount\u00a0\u2013 for better or worse \u2013 of autonomous movement was possible. After all, even if there were detectives in the background, it wasn\u2019t the detective\u2019s job to interfere.\u201d<\/p>\n
The drama chooses to draw a parallel between Bashir\u2019s Pakistani heritage and that of Khan, whom Diana had spoken with about his Pakistani upbringing earlier in the episode. \u201cSuch a coincidence,\u201d she notes, The Crown <\/em>supposing this significance.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s true that during the mid 90s, Diana engaged in many hospital visits, and a key part of her legacy remains the use of her platform\u00a0to counter myths about how HIV\/AIDS could be contracted, most famously in a visit to a New York AIDS ward in 1989. \u201cShe did it for the cameras,\u201d Penny Junor told HistoryExtra<\/em><\/a>, \u201cbut she was demonstrating that AIDS victims were still human beings and you shouldn\u2019t shun them. She did a huge amount of good for this cause.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prince William and Eton<\/h2>\n
Meanwhile, Prince William has enrolled at Eton College. In the background, Prince Charles and Princess Diana spar over whether the princess\u2019s behaviour is \u201cmothering\u201d or \u201csmothering\u201d.<\/p>\n
- Read more | What was Diana like as a mother?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
The prince did attend the school from the age of 11 in 1995, and is often cited as the first senior member of the royal family to attend the institution. However, as depicted in the episode, the Queen did also receive some of her education at Eton. In 1938, then-Princess Elizabeth began receiving lessons from the vice provost of Eton, Henry Marten, on constitutional history. \u201cMarten\u2019s teachings,\u201d writes Kate Williams<\/a>, \u201cwere important to Elizabeth\u2019s perception of her role: he told her that monarchy was strengthened by adaptability and talked of the importance of broadcasting directly to her subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the drama, the Queen and William\u2019s shared experience of Eton, and their new proximity \u2013 Eton is just over a mile away from Windsor Castle\u00a0\u2013 gives them a chance to bond. A line from the Queen (played by Imelda Staunton) suggests once again the line between duty and family. \u201cIt might be nice to have him here for tea,\u201d she says, \u201cunless it wouldn\u2019t break any rules.\u201d In reality, the Queen and her grandson reportedly had a very close relationship<\/a>, with Prince William referring to his grandmother as \u201cGary\u201d when he was a youngster, apparently confusing the word with \u2018Granny\u2019.<\/p>\n
- Read more | What was Diana like as a mother?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
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